1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of pillboxes with timepieces and alarms which remind the user to take medication at a certain time. More particularly, the device covers pill dispensers that use a liquid crystal display (LCD) mechanism and either vibrate and/or produce an audible alarm at the time that medication is scheduled to be taken. The invention also relates to electronic devices that can automatically calculate the next scheduled dosage based upon user input.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Currently there is a great need for a device which can conveniently and confidentially remind a person when it is time to take a particular medicine. As the current population ages, more and more people ore taking high cholesterol medication, estrogen replacement therapy, high blood pressure medication, and a wide range of other medications, all at the same time. Different pills are on different schedules and must be taken at different intervals. This makes keeping track of all the different medications and time schedules very confusing.
Additionally, many people work in situations where an audible alarm simply is not acceptable. For example, lawyers, court clerks and judges must maintain a quiet atmosphere while court is in session. Teachers, bank tellers, shop clerks, hospital personnel and others in public service type jobs would also find it distracting to use audible alarm. Further, there are people who work or enjoy leisure pursuits in situations where they simply cannot hear an audible alarm. Some people work on construction sites, in factories or partake in noisy athletic events such as baseball, soccer, hockey, football and the like. And finally, other people are simply hard of hearing and can only respond to a vibrating alarm.
However, there are not many devices in the prior art which solve the problem of providing a silent or vibrating alarm, and more especially, one which conveniently provides a compartmental pill box corresponding to the number of alarms set which can be conveniently slipped onto a belt or into a pocket. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,505 issued to Tsuchiya, et.al., discloses a watch with a dumb alarm which is efficient in operation so as to consume less battery power by providing for a spiral spring for rotating an eccentric weight to create the vibrating alarm. However, this patent does not disclose the combination of providing a vibrating alarm with multiple settings and multiple corresponding pill compartments attached hereto.
Most timer devices relating to the dispensing of a medication are directed towards the purpose of accurately indicating when a pill from a particular container such as a pill bottle or blister package was last removed and then calculating the next proper time for a new dosage and sounding an alarm at that time. Accordingly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,955 issued to Ballew, U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,439 issued to Albeck and U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,571 are all related to pill bottle caps with audible alarms and visual alarms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,412,372 issued to Parkhurst, et al is but one example of a device which times the dispensing of blister pack packaged medication and stores and downloads pill dispensing times for later analysis by a health care professional.
Thus, in the prior art, there are many pill bottles with audible and/or visual alarms. The prior art also teaches a blister pack that monitors and transmits data concerning the taking of medication. There are, however, no pill containers with multiple compartments adjacent or removably secured to an electronic LCD display unit capable of storing several different alarm times, activating the alarm and then indicating which compartment contains the pill to be taken.